Meaning & use
comb it
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Meaning
phrasetransitive
To make hair neat using a comb.
Grammar: The pronoun 'it' replaces the hair or the thing being combed. You can also say 'comb your hair'.
Patterns
- comb it
- comb it through
- comb it out
Your hair is messy; go and comb it before we leave.
She combed it carefully to remove the tangles.
He combed it back from his forehead.
Common combinations
- comb it back
- She combed it back into a ponytail.
- comb it through
- Use conditioner to help comb it through.
- comb it out
- He combed it out after washing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- brush it
- Brush it means to use a brush, which is often for smoother or longer hair; comb it is for detangling or styling with a comb.
Word family
Commonly confused: comb it or cone it?
comb it vs cone it
Cone it (informal) means to eat a cone-shaped ice cream; it is not related to combing hair.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The phrase 'comb it through' means to comb thoroughly to remove tangles. The other options use incorrect prepositions: 'comb it out' is possible but 'comb it the knots out' is not; 'comb it on' and 'comb it for' do not fit this context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comb it”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.